The high school football season will have a different look this fall.
Members of the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference voted earlier this month to realign its football leagues to better match up with the MIAA’s new eight-division alignment.
Western Massachusetts schools are placed in four of the eight statewide divisions — Division 2, 3, 4 and 4A.
To give each team a better shot at qualifying for the postseason, and to improve competition, the PVIAC voted to expand its leagues from four to seven, and include schools from Berkshire County. The move was made on a one-year trial.
“We all went for it because it brings the Berkshires in for a year,” Amherst athletic director Rich Ferro said. “We’ll see if things get more competitive. If they do, great; if not, we’ll go back to the drawing board.”
The seven new league are: AA Conference, Suburban North, Suburban South, Intercounty North, Intercounty South, Intercounty West and Tri-County.
Amherst is in Division 2, the top division in western Mass. But the Hurricanes dropped from the Suburban League to the Intercounty South, which includes Belchertown, Easthampton, Ludlow and Monument Mountain.
“Our newly formed league is really a league representative of good soccer teams,” Amherst athletic director Rich Ferro said. “Each year (Amherst) has about 80 kids go out for soccer. It makes sense for the smaller football programs to be in the same league.”
Northampton is in the Suburban South with East Longmeadow, Westfield, West Springfield, Commerce and Putnam. The Blue Devils were excited for the challenge.
“I think it will work out,” Hamp coach Pat Sledzieski said. “We will have a few crossovers with AA schools, so that will help us come playoff time.”
A goal of the realignment was to make games more competitive and some coaches thought that was achieved.
“I think this will help western Mass. football because there will be better competition,” Smith Voke coach Doug Slaughter said. “The PVIAC is trying to get good matchups and good games. I think this will build better programs because the competition will be better. Everyone wants to be competitive.”
The Vikings stayed in the Tri-County League, which includes Palmer, Pathfinder, Ware and Dean Tech, if the Holyoke-based school fields a team.
The Intercounty West will be home to Mount Greylock, Drury, Lee, Mohawk and McCann Tech.
The AA Conference will feature Holyoke, Minnechaug, Central, Chicopee Comp, Agawam and Longmeadow.
Crossover games will provide additional competition. Belchertown, for example, will play two games against the Suburban North (Chicopee, Taconic, Pittsfield, Hoosac Valley, South Hadley, Wahconah) and one against the Intercounty North (Athol, Mahar, Frontier, Turner Falls, Greenfield, Franklin Tech).
“The crossovers are going to be tough,” Belchertown coach Chris Bourget said. “We’ll most likely play two strong football teams that are very well coached.”
Bourget added, “It should be interesting in a lot of aspects. Overall, I think it’s a good move for Western Mass. football. Although you can’t please everyone, the realignment does a good job as a whole.”
The realignment is on a one-year trial because the current PVIAC constitution states that schools can not enter the PVIAC in just one sport. If schools want to stay with the realignment, District F (Pioneer Valley) and District G (Berkshire County) will have to work something out because it is unlikely Berkshire County schools will join the PVIAC in all sports.
Athletic directors and principals will evaluate the realignment after the 2016 season and decide its future.